Common Questions and Misconceptions About Sex Crimes Cases

One common question is about getting an arrest cleaned off their record. Prostitution or soliciting can be sealed or expunged from the record so that the public can’t access it or see the nature of the arrest or allegations. In Florida, this is a once in a lifetime chance. You’re entitled to one sealing or expunging in your lifetime, period. Once you take your one time, you can never come back to court for a second or subsequent sealing or expungement.

Do Police Generally Use Underhanded Tactics To Coerce A Confession?

All the time! The police officers can lie. What they can’t do is threaten a person or overcome their will, but they can say, “Well, just be honest with us and we’ll go easy on you.” That’s not a promise not to prosecute, but if there is a promise made that if they divulge the truth they won’t be prosecuted, that can be used to avoid prosecution. If they get physical with the person or make some type of physical threat to try to get them to make a statement, that can be excluded from evidence.

If Someone is Accused or Charged With Soliciting Or Prostitution, How Can An Attorney Help?

Just like any other case. It’s a criminal charge that ultimately has to be proven beyond a reasonable doubt and there are defenses. Entrapment is one. There can be mistakes, where the officer thinks that the person is making a statement that’s soliciting but which honestly isn’t, so an attorney would look at all the viable defenses in order to give them an informed opinion about what direction they should take their case. That goes for any case, sex or not.

If Someone Commits Prostitution Out of Need or Desperation, How Does That Impact Their Case?

If they’re convicted in litigation, it might help to reduce the severity of the punishment if they’ve got a sob story where they were desperate for money and this is the only way that they felt that they could support their children or family. But when it comes to prostitution, all these cases, almost exclusively, occur with an undercover police officer on either side of the table either posing as a John or posing as a prostitute.

If a prostitute and a John who want to engage in that activity for money, it’s rare that that is going to come to light such that they will be prosecuted, unless there’s a raid at a place where the police officers catch people in the act. Otherwise, it’s almost always an undercover situation. The circumstances generally don’t sway these officers to look the other way. They’re there to do what they’re doing specifically and they’re not motivated or moved by a sob story.

What About Indecent Exposure or Urinating in Public? Can That Result In An Arrest?

Yes. Urinating in public is a misdemeanor as well. It’s not the type of indecent exposure the courts or the prosecutors are concerned about. They’re more concerned about people that purposely flash, generally children, and those people have significant mental health issues that the courts are concerned about, because that type of behavior can lead to more serious activity.

What Are Some Things That Can Help Someone’s Sex Crimes Case?

Hopefully, the lawyer is engaged early enough to be able to advise the client not to talk to anyone about the allegations in the case. That is for two reasons. One reason is to make sure that you don’t create evidence against yourself, and the other reason is to make sure that any discussion you have with someone isn’t misconstrued.

Unless they tape the phone call between the alleged victim and the accused and there is a conversation that they can show occurred, you get into a predicament of having to defend against a bald allegation that’s not corroborated by a tape, so I always advise clients not to talk with anyone about the case especially on the phone.

If you avoid having any conversation with the alleged victim, then they can’t make up the story about what you may or supposedly admitted to. If you feel that you might have this problem, it’s important to contact an attorney immediately to get the kind of advice you need to make a case the strongest it can be.

For more information on Common Issues Regarding Sex Crime Charges, a free initial consultation is your best next step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (561) 866-5717 today.